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Zeus Community • PCML dumb-fire guide
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PCML dumb-fire guide

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 4:34 pm
by Wombat
I recently took the PCML to the range to figure out exactly how to score hits at different ranges while dumb-firing it (unguided). The pro's of dumb-firing the PCML rather than locking-on are twofold:
  • Smoke countermeasure won't disrupt the missile.
  • You can hit targets past the max lock range. Max lock-on range = 800m, max dumbfire range = 1190m.
The con is:
  • Hitting a moving target is very difficult due to the missile's relatively slow flight speed.
After some testing and plotting at the target range, I've created an accurate guide as to the missile's flight path shown below. Note that the missile is soft-launched so you see the missile "dip" for the first 10m before the missile's main rocket motor ignites which causes the missile to climb steadily in it's trajectory for the next 200m before it levels out. The missile does begin to gradually loose steam after about 600m but it only drops a little before it self-detonates just under 1200m (consider 1190m to be max range).

Image

Since that image may be hard to remember, I've also created and tested a fairly accurate rule-of-thumb to follow below.

Rule-of-thumb:

Only dumb-fire the PCML at stationary targets.

Below 200m, aim by placing the centre of the crosshair at the centre of the vehicle's hull:

Image

200m and above, aim by placing the tip of the red vertical line at the base of the vehicle's hull:

Image

Max range is 1190m, after which the missile will self-detonate.